Prepare for cold weather hiking with layers of clothing

Dec. 13, 2012

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Written by

Wes

JOHNSON

Icicles grow from a cliff ledge on the Goat Trail, overlooking the Buffalo River in northern Arkansas. / Dan Nash

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There is an upside to this week’s bone-chilling plunge into the teens.

Ticks and chiggers are finally in the deep freeze for the next several months. And I’ll be free to hike the woods without attracting the nasty little blood suckers like the chigger magnet that I am.

But I also don’t want to freeze to death when I hit the trails. So I talked with a couple of outdoors experts about how best to prepare for a trek into the wilds during winter.

I quickly learned one thing: Don’t wear cotton clothing.

“Cotton is durable but holds moisture really well, and it’s really abrasive when wet,” said Matt O’Reilly, owner of Dynamic Earth Equipment Company in Springfield. “If you wear cotton socks, you’re more prone to getting blisters. And wet cotton conducts heat away from the body — it won’t keep you warm like wool will if it gets wet.”

During a visit to his store on Republic Road, O’Reilly laid out layers of clothing that he said hikers should consider wearing if they plan to venture into the cold. The layers are designed to wick moisture away from the body and vent water vapor away through high-tech materials.

He recommends a base-layer shirt and pants made of Merino wool next to a person’s skin. Unlike other wools, Merino is not itchy against the skin, and its fibers are long and hollow — ideal for retaining heat and pulling moisture away from the skin. He recommends a single pair of Merino wool socks, as well.

“Wearing three pairs of socks is wrong because you’ll end up sweating and retaining moisture, conducting heat away from your feet and possibly restricting blood flow to your feet,” he said. “You don’t want to sweat when you hike.”

The wool under-layer can be worn on its own, or beneath a pair of windproof, waterproof pants made with any of a number of brand-name high-tech materials — Gore-Tex, Neo-Shell, eVent — that let sweat vapor escape but repel rain.

The middle layer is designed to trap heat while still letting water vapor from sweat pass through. O’Reilly said a man-made fleece or lightweight goose down jacket is ideal for the midlayer.

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An outer shell coat is the most important piece in layering because it protects all of the layers beneath it from getting wet. O’Reilly said a quality outer shell is windproof, waterproof, has an attached hood and zippers, and taped seams that don’t leak.

“But it also has to let moisture vapor escape,” he said. Some shells have zippered vents that allow heat to escape, and the best shells are made of those modern, waterproof but breathable materials.

“A shell that doesn’t breathe just traps water on the inside,” O’Reilly said. “It’s like wearing a plastic bag. You’ll end up getting wet. If you begin your hike with proper layers, each piece can be worn on its own or in conjunction with the others, depending on the temperature outside and how hot or cold you feel.”

Gloves and a good hat complete a cold weather hiker’s outfit. Gloves made with Thinsulate are warm and windproof, and can be thinner than ski gloves or mittens, which often trap so much heat a person’s hands will sweat and then chill.

O’Reilly said Marmot’s Sensor gloves are proving to be popular because they have a fabric in the thumb and index finger that allows the wearer to use a touch-screen device without removing a glove.

While on the trail, it’s important to keep well fed and hydrated, O’Reilly added.

“If you’re dehydrated, the body is not as efficient, and you become much more sensitive to hypothermia,” he said.

Dan Nash, owner of Satori Adventures and Expeditions in Nixa, has spent years hiking and exploring the world. His company offers guided hiking trips as far away as Mount Everest or as close as the Ozarks. During cold-weather hikes, hypothermia is always a danger.

He recalled leading one winter hiking trip in northern Arkansas when three or four other hikers suddenly appeared on the trail. Nash took one look, and with temperatures in the low 20s, he said he knew one of the hikers was about to be in big trouble.

“One of the guys was wearing blue jeans and had fallen into a creek up to his waist,” Nash recalled. “The temperature outside was cold enough that his jeans froze. They had five miles to go to get to their car, so we invited them to camp overnight with us. We built a fire, got him out of his frozen jeans and put him in some extra clothes we had.”

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The hiker was lucky. Hypothermia — a dangerous drop in body temperature — can prove deadly. As the body pulls blood away from the extremities to protect core organs, a person can easily become confused and start making bad decisions that can make a bad situation worse.

“Especially if you’re wet, that starts pulling your body temperature down,” Nash said “Your motor skills start to go, and you act like you’re drunk. You’ll have a hard time talking. If you don’t get your body temperature back up, it can be lethal.”

Ironically, Nash said day hikers often are more likely to get into more serious trouble because they typically don’t have extra gear and clothing that overnight trekkers walking with backpacks typically carry.

“Most day hikers would be wise to have some extra clothes in their day packs — gloves, a fleece jacket, a good hat of Merino wool,” he said. “And it’s good for them to have some basic survival training so they’d know what to do if they got into trouble.”

A Merino wool hat or a “buff” — a tubular piece of fabric that can protect a wearer’s neck or be used as a head cover — are essential to carry on cold-weather hikes.

“A hat is superimportant,” Nash said. “Your head is where you lose most of your body heat if it’s exposed.”

Like O’Reilly, Nash said people venturing into cold weather wearing cotton clothes or old-style “waffle” long johns are asking for trouble.

“Never, ever wear cotton,” he said. “Cotton stays wet and is very hard to dry.”

Nash is a fan of Merino wool clothing. “If it gets wet it continues to keep you warm, where synthetic materials will not. Merino also won’t hold odors. You can wear it a long time and it won’t stink. Synthetic fabrics will dry quicker, but they don’t do anything to stop body odor from building up.

“Both Merino wool and synthetics wick moisture, but the key is to not be sweating while you’re hiking,” he added. “Down to 25 degrees, I’m often down to just a base layer. You don’t want to get into a thick lather of a sweat while you’re hiking. Just add or take away layers depending on what your activity is. Wearing layers lets you find that happy middle ground.”

Common issues and misconceptions about cold

• Cold hands? Insulate your core. If your body is losing heat too fast, it restricts blood flow to your hands. These are the pre-stages of hypothermia. Other than brisk wind, this is the primary reason for cold hands. If you need your hands free to work with your customers and your surroundings, insulate your core. If your hands are cold, think about a thicker coat, not thicker gloves.

• Cold feet? Same story. You also may be conducting heat out your feet. Wear thick-soled shoes or boots that block the wind. (Running shoes are a bad idea.) Avoid boots with metal shanks or toe guards (conductive heat loss).

• The more socks the less merrier. One thick pair of good (not cotton) socks is usually better than several pairs. Why? Multiple socks get tight and prevent blood flow. Also, they hold more moisture from your skin, and water conducts heat away far faster than air. Always avoid trapping moisture on your inner layers.

• Cotton killer: Cotton is extremely good at trapping moisture, drying slowly, letting wind through, trapping odor and generally wreaking havoc on your day. A cotton hoodie is perhaps the worst form of insulation you can wear. As a layer it’s OK, but never as a jacket. The same advice goes for cotton socks and “thermals,” or long underwear. You want a synthetic fabric with some loft to it, not cotton.

• Canvas equals cold: That Carhartt jacket may seem indestructible. Everything that makes it tough, though, also makes it cold. If you’re expecting a canvas jacket with a plaid liner to keep you warm, it won’t. Wind blows through it, it has no loft and it can easily get wet. Make sure to layer under this work jacket, or wear a shell or rainwear over it to block the wind.

• There is no such thing as a magical fabric. Avoid claims of miraculously warm materials and clothes. Loft equals warmth. Your skin’s job as an organ is to regulate your body temperature. Keep it dry and insulate it, and you will be fine. Fabrics aren’t magical. Some are high tech, but nothing replaces physics and the common sense of layering and preventing heat loss.

• Eat and drink. Your body starts the day with a finite amount of energy-producing potential. The more you metabolize your food, the more energy you use. Also, dehydrated cells are not efficient at doing their job. Keep hydrated. Drink temperate to warm liquids. If you ingest cold liquids, your body must essentially heat that mass to 98.6 degrees, and sometimes that equals a lot of heat loss.

• Move. When you shiver, it’s your body’s way of producing extra heat by burning resources and firing your muscles. It's better to use those resources for productivity. Stay busy, help your neighbor, move around, windmill your arms, or do some jumping jacks.